Little Dixon
by Blooming Luna
Summary: The world Holly Dixon lives in now isn't a world meant for little girls. Somehow she's defying all odds, surviving on her own, when she runs into the skilled warrior Michonne in the woods. With nowhere else to go, Holly joins Michonne, and they learn to work together to find the remaining members of Michonne's lost group - and among them, Holly's last living relative, Daryl Dixon.
1. One

One

The breeze that acted as a comb for my tangled hair also brought with it the cruel stench of geeks, sour and thick on my nose. The awful scent, although common, still wasn't one I was used to, and I pressed my tongue to the roof of my mouth roughly to block it from delving any further into my senses. I groaned and closed my eyes briefly, my right hand reaching down and finding the handle of the knife I had tucked into my belt loop. I had a hatchet in my canvas bag that was as always slung over my back, and they were my only two weapons. That was fine, though. I preferred close up combat. Opening my eyes again, I listened for the growling. One thing I had learned throughout the past few years was that you would always smell the geeks before you heard them, and you would always hear them before you saw them.

A low rumbling broke out in the trees to my left. There! I pulled out my dirty knife and spun towards the sound, just as the first geek stumbled into sight. A quick evaluation revealed that there were only three, so I lunged forwards and put my left hand on the first geek's shoulder. With my other hand I drove my knife through its skull. I twisted it before yanking it out and stabbing it into the side of a second geek's head. The third and final geek came up around behind me, so I spun around and after a second's aim threw my knife. It landed, blade first, right between the geek's eyes. The lifeless body crumpled to the ground.

Proud of myself, for that was one of the neater kills I had made in the past week or so, I kicked aside the first geek's corpse so I could move to wrench my knife from the rotted skull. After I got it out, I rubbed the fresh blood off with the pad of my thumb and made to tuck it away.

A branch snapping behind me made me freeze. I drew out my knife again and turned to face what I thought would be another geek.

A middle aged woman with dark skin and even darker eyes was pointing a long, slender sword at me. My heart began beating out of my chest as I raked my gaze over her. She was thin, but then again most of us were these days. Her long dark hair was tied up into many braids that were kept out of her face by a bandana she had tied around her head. Her boots were just as worn out as my own, and she carried nothing other than her sword and its sheath. Her eyes were narrowed and her lips slightly parted.

I didn't move, just held my knife in a position ready to throw. The woman - I could hardly call her a lady - didn't move either. We stared at each other for a few moments that felt like hours, neither of us daring to sheath our weapons, until she spoke.

"Are you bit?"

Her question shocked me. I just looked at her for a moment, then said, "What?"

"I said, are you bit?" The woman's voice was deep and slow.

I frowned. "No. Of course not."

Her eyes flicked over me, taking in my appearance. I suddenly felt self conscious about my raggedy look. I wore a black track jacket over a white tee shirt, both of which were heavily stained with dirt and blood and some even darker stuff I couldn't identify. My jeans were ripped in several places, exposing pale and bruised skin underneath. My drawstring bag was closed tight and draped down my back, and my hair was a tangled mess. I had tried to tame it into a knot with a rubber band, but it had hardly done any good at all and I was sure I still looked like I had crawled out of the gutter.

We stared at each other for an eternity longer, and then the dark skinned woman spoke again. "Michonne." I assumed she was telling me her name, so I responded by telling her mine.

"I'm Holly Dixon."

Michonne's eyes flashed with something that I couldn't catch. It might have been a spark of recognition, but it was gone before I could decipher it. She quickly spoke again. "Are you alone?"

A lump grew in my throat as I nodded briskly. It was a tiny nod; if it had been any tinier then Michonne probably wouldn't have seen it. But she did, and acknowledged it with a slight narrowing of her eyes. I swallowed the lump in my throat, blinked back the tears threatening to spill, and said, my voice shaky, "What about you? Are you alone?"

Michonne paused before answering. "I don't know."

I tipped my head slightly to the side. "What does that mean? What happened?"

I didn't get an answer. Instead, with that slow, deep voice of hers, Michonne said, "I'll lower mind if you lower yours."

At first I had no idea what she was talking about, until she wavered her grip on her sword. Oh. She meant the weapons that we still had aimed at each other. I nodded and, slowly, we both moved our weapons out of combat range. Mine went back to my belt loop, hers to the sheath strapped to her back. I pushed my hands into my jacket pockets, while she crossed her arms over her chest. We simply stared at each other for a few moments while I debated what to say.

"Come on. Let's talk. I want to know more about this mysterious group of yours." I took my hands out of my pockets and put them on the straps of my bag instead, preparing to walk.

Michonne started walking towards me. When she got right up next to me, she locked my hazel eyed gaze into her dark brown one. "Later." Then she continued walking past me.

I quickly processed what she said and spun around, walking after her. "Later? You mean, you'll let me stick around?"

"Sure." Michonne glanced at me as I caught up and started walking beside her. "Why not." I smiled. Michonne gave me a look like she was impressed and amused at the same time. "I saw you take out those three walkers. You're pretty quick with that knife."

I couldn't help but blush at the compliment. "Thanks. You call them walkers? I call them geeks."

Michonne nodded. "Walkers, geeks, biters. Doesn't matter. They're all the same. The only thing that really matters is staying alive."

I nodded once. "Yeah." We walked in silence for a few more minutes, me just following Michonne's path through the trees. After we crossed a narrow stream, we came upon the road. Michonne looked both ways and turned to her left, walking down the cracked asphalt. She stayed on the edge, though, close to the tree line that was tightly packed up against both sides. I followed her. "Where's this road go?"

She looked back at me. "Away." Her answer was vague, and I stopped walking. She didn't notice until a few moments later. "What are you doing?"

I blinked at her. "I said, where does this road go?" My curious mind had become determined, and I wasn't going to follow her without getting an answer.

Michonne walked back towards me. Her voice suddenly hard, she said, "I told you. Away. Now come on."

I didn't move. "There's something you're not telling me. How am I supposed to go with you if you're keeping secrets?"

Michonne looked deeply into my eyes. "Everyone has secrets. Especially now that we've got the dead coming back to eat you. You never know who you can trust."

I hesitated, biting my lip. Michonne stared at me for a moment longer. Just as she was turning away, I blurted out, "I trust you."

She froze. Turning slowly back around to face me, she looked shocked. "What?"

I swallowed. "I said I trust you. You didn't kill me, although you could have. You let me come with you after I told you I was alone, even though you could've left me in the woods. I trust you."

Michonne looked at me for a moment. I was worried that she was about to dash off, and then I'd be alone again. Then she smiled. "Let's get going, little Dixon." I couldn't help but smile as I walked with her down the edge of the road.

A/N: Hey guys! Welcome to Holly's story. This will be a somewhat short story, just letting you know, and as far as I'm concerned I believe it'll be a stand alone one. I wrote this a long time ago, and I promise my writing has improved since then, I just wanted to post this one as it is the way I originally wrote it. This takes place during the second half of season four, after the group has fled the prison and they spend the rest of the season trying to get to Terminus and reunite. It's a little bit different than the canon version, I changed up the groups of survivors that are together. Instead of being with Rick and Carl and eventually Daryl, Michonne is alone. The other groups are a little changed up too, you'll see that as the story continues.

Reviews are always welcomed and greatly encouraged!


	2. Two

Two

Later that evening, Michonne veered off into the trees. I followed her without a word. She still hadn't told me where we were going, or what had happened to her old group, but I was planning on finding out. Best to get on her good side, then.

I smiled. "I like your sword. It's a pretty sufficient weapon, isn't it?"

Michonne laughed. Her laugh was deep, like I would expect it to be, yet full of real amusement. I liked it. "It's called a katana." After a moment, she added, "You're trying to suck up to get me to talk." My shoulders slumped. Michonne smiled at me as she wound through the trees. "Relax. Let's get some shelter for the night, and then we'll talk."

My spirits brightened again. Now I'd be able to find out more about Michonne's mysterious past. I watched Michonne look up into the thickets of branches above us. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to find a tree to shelter in. You can climb, can't you?" She glanced at me, and I nodded. She looked around for a few more minutes before finding a reasonably sized and shaped tree. The two of us climbed it and settled ourselves among the thickest boughs, me pulling my bag off and settling it in my lap. I drew my knife out of my belt loop and dropped it in the bag. I wasn't about to go to sleep and end up with a knife in my side.

Michonne eyed my canvas bag. "What've you got in there?" I smiled and opened my bag, looking down in and naming off my things.

"I have a knife, a hatchet, a flashlight with probably dead batteries, a half empty bottle of water, a peach in a paper bag, a ballpoint pen with blue ink, and a few rubber bands somewhere down there." Closing up my bag again, I added, "Oh, and a few pistol bullets. Totally useless, though, since I don't have a pistol."

Michonne laughed. Her laugh was so oddly contagious, I started laughing too, and we both sat there snickering. When silence overtook us again, I asked, "So, you're gonna tell me about your group?"

She hesitated, and I shot her a look that read "you said you would and if you don't I will get up and leave right now". She seemed to understand, because she nodded and started talking.

"We lived in a prison. Had a few blocks we'd cleared and turned into a real home." Michonne spoke with true sentiment about her past shelter. "There was a man, called the Governor. He was a sick man. Tried to kill us by getting together a bunch of tanks and people with guns, took Hershel and I captive."

"Who's Hershel?" I asked.

"Dead." Michonne shot back. I cringed, and Michonne went on. "The Governor killed him and war broke out. Bullets and arrows flying by our heads. We all got separated."

I pressed the palms of my hands together. "What about the Governor? What happened to him?"

Michonne glanced at me with a sick smirk. "I took care of him."

I nodded and pointedly looked away. "How big was your group?"

She shrugged lightly. "50. 60, maybe. We took in the citizens of Woodbury."

"Woodbury?"

"The town the Governor ran. We destroyed it and brought it's people back to the prison." Michonne smiled. "There were a few kids your age, too."

I put my chin in my hands, sort of feeling like a child at storytime. "Tell me about them."

"Well, there's Lizzie," Michonne started. "She's got a younger sister, Mika. Their dad died, but they're good kids. There's Carl, he's Rick's boy. His mom died in childbirth with his baby sister, Judith…"

"How's Judith?" I asked, hoping that the baby had survived.

"I don't know." Michonne admitted. "As soon as I'd stabbed the Governor straight through the back, I was outta there.

I leaned back against the trunk, pulling my hair out of its knot. "Tell me more about the others in the group. Tell me about Hershel. What was he like?"

Michonne looked at me with a hard gaze. "He was old and had one leg. His two daughters were in the group, too. Maggie and Beth. Beth acts as Judith's mother, she's about seventeen. Maggie's older than her, and she's married. Her husband's Glenn."

"Glenn?"

"The Asian one." Michonne cracked a smile. "He met Maggie after the outbreak, and got Hershel's blessing to marry her."

Using my bag as a pillow, I stretched out across two thick boughs on my back. "Is that everyone of importance?"

"No." Even though the sun had gone down a long time ago, Michonne didn't lay down. Maybe it was because there were geeks on the ground, milling about the woods. Or maybe she just wanted to talk. Either way, she continued, "Tyreese and Sasha are brother and sister. They joined us after Woodbury. Rick is Carl and Judith's dad, he was leader until his wife died. He started seeing things, and Carl got him to back down. We have a council now."

I noted that Michonne talked about her group as if it still existed. Well, maybe it did. I wouldn't know. I didn't say anything and let her continue.

"Carol took care of Lizzie and Mika, until Rick sent her away for killing two of our own…"

I gasped, knowingly cutting her off. "Why would she do that?"

Michonne looked at me with a strange lack of expression. "Karen and David were sick. Carol thought she could stop it from spreading. She was wrong. Glenn and Sasha nearly died. Lizzie was sick, too. We were just getting over it when the Governor attacked."

"Oh," I yawned, beginning to feel sleepy. "So that's all, then? That's all the people I need to know about?"

Michonne looked amused. "I don't recall saying you needed to know any of this." When I shot her a questioning stare, she laughed. "No. There's also Daryl."

I couldn't help the eagerness that shot through me as I sat up. "Dixon? Daryl Dixon?"

Michonne smiled. "Relation?"

I nodded frantically. "Yes! He's my uncle!"

Now it was Michonne's turn to be shocked - that clearly wasn't the relation she was thinking of. "Uncle? You can't mean your dad is"-

"Merle?" I bit my lip and nodded, this time nervously. "Yeah. You know him? Is he in your group?"

My newfound friend neither nodded nor shook her head. "Holly… I don't know how to say this."

I knew what was coming before she even had to say it. "What?" My voice came out as nothing more than a whisper. "No."

Michonne nodded. "I'm sorry, Holly."

A/N: The ending to this chapter is a little blunt and choppy, but it's alright. I'll post the next one in about three days or so. Thanks for enjoying Holly's story so far!


	3. Three

Three

Now the tears were flowing. I was sobbing, shaking my head. It couldn't be true, I wished it wasn't true. My dad was dead, my grandparents were dead, my mom had left, and she was probably dead too. I had no one…

Michonne did nothing to stop me as I cried. I buried my face in my bag, letting the tough fabric soak up my tears. It was several minutes before I worked up the courage to ask, "How?" The word was barely noticeable above my sobs, but Michonne caught it. She looked at me stonily before answering.

"He was shot. By the Governor. Daryl had to put him down."

My temper suddenly flared. "Put him down? He wasn't a dog, Mitch! He was a person! He was my dad!"

Michonne's eyes flicked over me, and then out into the trees. "I'm sorry."

The tears were slowing down, but the shock still numbed my body. I nodded weakly. "I know. Thank you. I'm sorry, Mitch." She didn't say anything. Instead, I was answered by the growling of many geeks. We both looked down to see a decently sized herd had gathered, surrounding the tree with their arms outstretched and their yellow eyes staring. "Holy crap," I breathed. "Michonne, we gotta go."

Michonne slowly but steadily pulled her katana out of its sheath. I retrieved my knife before putting my bag on my back. "What do we do?"

Michonne pointed to a nearby tree. "You are going to climb to that tree and get as far away as possible, while I take out as many of these walkers as I can."

"What?" I tried to stay quiet, but I was freaking out now. "No! Mitch, I'm not leaving you!"

"Just go!" Michonne nudged me. "There's no time. I'll be alright. Get outta here, little Dixon." And with that, she dropped nearly out of the tree, hacking at geeks with her katana.

"Michonne!" I screamed, terrified. There was no time to lose. I climbed to the thickest branch and held my knife between my teeth as I got down on my hands and knees. The branch wavering under me, I crawled as fast but carefully as I could to the other tree. Once I nearly fell off, but I caught myself and dangled by one arm and one leg for a few moments until I was able to pull myself up. Then I was off again, jumping into the other tree.

Talk about suspenseful. I could practically hear the dramatic music.

As I climbed down the trunk, I glanced back at Michonne. I couldn't even see her among the geeks, and it didn't help that it was dark. I took a deep, shaky breath and dropped to the ground. As soon as the soles of my boots hit the dirt, I was off. Through the trees I ran, away from the geeks. Away from Michonne. My eyes continued to spill over with tears, and I wiped them away with the back of my hand.

It was a few minutes later that I ran into a small clearing - and bumped into another person. The person was bigger than me, and I fell back onto the grass. Startled, I looked up to see a man looking down at me, equally as surprised. A young woman stood behind him.

The man was thick but not fat, and had a dark beanie pulled down over his head. The woman was tall and slender, and her black curly hair was pulled up into a ponytail. She looked a bit weak and sleepy, like she was recovering from being sick. They both had dark skin and the same chocolate eyes; they looked far too much alike not to be related.

Instantly it clicked.

"Tyreese and Sasha!" I rubbed my tears away as I spoke.

The newcomers exchanged a confused look. "Who are you?" Tyreese demanded, at the same time that Sasha questioned, "How did you know that?"

I shook my head as I scrambled to my feet. "That doesn't matter right now. Michonne needs help!"

"You know Michonne?" Tyreese's tone was doubtful.

I nodded frantically. "Yes! We were hiding out in a tree and got surrounded by geeks. Michonne climbed down to fight them, and I jumped to the next tree, dropped down, and ran. Please help!"

Tyreese and Sasha didn't speak for a moment. Then Sasha nodded. "Lead the way."

I shot them a thankful look and pulled my knife from my belt loop. Then I turned and took off into the woods, Tyreese and Sasha closely following.

When we reached the tree, there were about fifteen geeks remaining. Michonne was barely visible in the middle of them, covered in blood and sweat. Every few seconds a headless body would drop to the ground.

Tyreese picked up a rock from the dirt and threw himself onto the nearest geek, sloppily bashing it's head in. Sasha kicked a geek in the stomach, pushing it to the ground, then stomped on its skull. Both kills were very messy. I rolled my eyes. "Amateurs."

Then, deciding to show them how it's done, I stabbed one geek in the head, letting the body fall. I stood up and stuck my knife up under another one's chin. Spinning around, I jabbed it quickly into a geek's forehead, then swiftly yanked it out and threw it. It speared a fourth geek right through the back of the head. All four kills were neat and quick.

Tyreese and Sasha were staring at me, impressed. I felt like giving them a smirk or a wink, but there was no time to gloat. Instead, I pulled my knife from the dead geek's skull and threw it at a living geek that was about to get Michonne. It clattered to the ground, the last geek to fall. Michonne spun to face me as well, and I felt all three pairs of eyes gazing at me.

"Hi." I directed these words to Michonne. "Glad you're not dead."

She stared at me for a moment longer, probably wondering whether to thank me for getting help or to scold me for ignoring her orders. Then she laughed. "I'm glad I'm not dead, too."

Sasha moved over and put a hand on Michonne's shoulder. "Hey. We're alive."

Michonne smiled at her. "Yeah. You are."

Tyreese was more focused on me. "You're pretty handy with that knife there, girl."

I smiled. "Thank"-

"Who are you?" Tyreese cut me off, leaning close. I backed away instinctively.

"Tyreese." Michonne's voice was stern. "Relax. This is little Dixon."

I mustered as bright a smile as I could. "Holly."

"Holly Dixon?" Sasha tilted her head at me curiously. "Is she related to"-

"To Daryl Dixon?" I nodded. "Yeah."

The brother and sister exchanged a surprised glance. "You can't be his daughter!" Sasha exclaimed.

I laughed and shook my head. "I'm not his daughter. I'm his niece. My dad was Merle Dixon."

Tyreese glanced at Michonne. "You know what happened to him, then?"

"Michonne told me. I don't want to talk about it." I couldn't talk about it. I couldn't even think about it. I was alone in this world, unless Michonne and her scattered, mismatched group wanted to take me in. I looked up at my friend. "Can I still stick around, even now that you've found some of your group?"

Michonne looked at me, emotionless, for a few moments that felt like years. For a split second, I thought she was going to say no, but then she parted her lips. "Of course. We have to get the Dixons reunited."

I grinned. "Thanks, Mitch."

A/N: Hey guys! This is a few days later than I was planning on posting, but I hope this was a good enough chapter to make up for it! So here comes Sasha and Tyreese into the story, which, as you know if you've watched the show, is not how they actually end up after the prison. But like I said, I changed up the groups a bit to make it work with my story better.

Thanks for my two reviewers! Even just a single, one word review makes my day, because it lets me know that people are enjoying it! Reviews are highly encouraged!! I'll try to post the next chapter before this coming weekend is over, so sometime in the next three or four days. Thanks again!


	4. Four

Four

The four of us walked in a line along the side of the road. Michonne was in front, then me, then Sasha. Tyreese took up the rear, my knife clenched in his hands. I had let him use it because he had no other weapons. I myself held my hatchet's handle tightly in my right hand. Sasha had the rock Tyreese had used earlier gripped in both hands, and Michonne's katana was strapped to her back. The moon was setting by now, but we walked away from the slowly rising sun.

It had been a while since we'd had to take out any geeks, and I was beginning to relax. Perhaps it would be a peaceful day. I would be able to find food, and get a camp, or find more of Michonne's lost group members. A small smile grew on my face as I got lost in my thoughts. Daryl. I could find Daryl.

"Not quite the Dixon family reunion I was hoping for." Michonne glanced back at me, and I realized that I had been talking to myself. "Sorry," I mumbled. "I guess I was thinking out loud again."

"It's fine," Sasha told me. "I think you're still adjusting to not being on your own. You must have been alone for a long time."

I shrugged. "Not really. Maybe two weeks at the most."

Michonne paused. "Tell me about them."

"Who?"

"Your group. The ones you were with two weeks ago."

"Oh." I didn't say anything else. I really didn't want to talk about it. Then I realized - Michonne probably hadn't wanted to tell me about her group either, but I had pushed her to. It was only fair that I returned the favor. I sighed. "Okay. Um, well, there were seven of us."

"Including you?" Tyreese questioned.

"Including me." I nodded. "There was Tom and his wife Ellen and their little girl, Lynn. Nick and Vance were brothers, they were around 30 maybe. And then there was Hayden. He was a year older than me. We were… he was… I was his…" I sighed. "We were really close."

Sasha looked at me sympathetically. "He was your boyfriend, wasn't he, Holly?"

Tears in my eyes, I nodded. "He was." A few seconds later, when I had regained my composure, I continued, "Our group's camp was in an old school. A high school. We cleared it all out, little by little, and made our main camp in the gymnasium. We had a few tents, set those up so we had a place to sleep. Tom, Ellie, and Lynn had their own, Nick and Vance had their own, and Hayden and I shared one. We scavenged everything we could from the classrooms and kitchen, and we almost had a good, secure, defendable home."

"But?" Michonne knew where my story was headed.

"They got in. The… the walkers. They got in, through the loading dock, and… and we didn't know. Until Vance went to check the inside perimeter and got attacked. He… he… we found his body, chewed and torn apart. Nick stabbed him before he could reanimate."

We had been walking the whole while I was telling my story, and a sudden cold breeze made me shiver and zip up my jacket before I continued.

"Nick, Tom, Ellen, and Hayden went to fight off the walkers, and I stayed behind to keep Lynn from harm." I sucked in a huge breath. "Only Tom came back."

Nobody spoke for a few moments. Then Michonne glanced back at me. "I'm sorry, Holly."

I nodded, not letting myself cry. "Thanks. Tom came back into the gym covered in blood, screaming that we had to go. He was terrified, yelling at Lynn and I that Ellen had been the first to go. The four of them had been trying to fight them off, to keep them from getting any closer, when Ellen got too close to a group of them. While she was driving bullets into a walker's head, a bunch of others got up behind her and drove their teeth into her neck. Nick was the next to go, he tripped over a fallen body and got his leg gnawed off by the walkers. Then… Tom said he and Hayden were retreating when a fresh swarm separated them. Tom heard Hayden's screams get cut off and knew he was gone."

I shuddered at the memory before I was able to continue. "While Tom grabbed Lynn, I grabbed my bag, which I had hurriedly stuffed things in to, and followed them to the girls' locker room. The windows in there were locked tight, and we didn't have time to try to open them, but Tom just smashed it to bits by slamming it with his rifle. We climbed out and ran.

We just… left. We ran into the woods without looking back. After a few miles, we made camp for the night. Tom kept watch while Lynn and I slept, and he told me he would wake me at midnight. Well, he never did. He was gone the next morning, and Lynn and I searched for him in the woods. We found him.

Dead.

He was laying face first in a stream, blood pooling all around him and turning the water red. But he wasn't bit. There were stab wounds all down his back and once in his head, to stop him from reanimating. When we flipped him over, he had a black eye and a long cut down his face. Blood was dripping down his chin, suggesting internal bleeding. Tom had died in pain. He had been murdered."

Michonne stopped walking. Tyreese peered at me from around Sasha's shoulder. "By who?"

I shook my head. "We never found out. Tom's rifle, bullets, and water bottle were gone - whoever had killed him must have looted him, beaten him up, and then killed him."

Sasha gave me an awkward half hug and rubbed my arm. "I'm so sorry, Holly. You shouldn't have had to go through that."

I shrugged her arm away. "Yeah, well, I did. And now I've gotta deal with it." My eyes watered. "Lynn's death was my fault.

With both of her parents dead and gone within 24 hours, the little girl was a mess. Sobbing and sad and snotting all over the place. I calmed her down, told her I would protect her, and had her wait and keep watch in a tree while I figured out how to bury Tom's body. I dug a hole with my bare hands, spent at least a few hours scraping the dirt away until I had a grave large enough to move Tom into. Once I had him in, I filled it back up with dirt. Then I heard Lynn scream. A walker had wandered over to the base of her tree and she had panicked and ended up falling off her branch. She was now dangling by her arms just out of the walker's reach, kicking her feet.

I ran towards her, drawing my knife, but I was too late. The walker had gotten ahold of one of her legs, and pulled on it before I could reach her… there was nothing I could do but kill the walker and catch her as she fell. I tried to amputate her foot but she was growing too weak too fast. She would've died from blood loss. I had to put her out of her misery. And I had to stop her from reanimating.

After that I dug Tom's grave open again and arranged the two of them together so that he was holding her in his arms, father cradling daughter. I buried them, and then I left and got lost in the forest. Then Michonne found me."

I took a deep breath. "There. That's my story. Everyone I've ever come to love has died. Even my dad. That's why I'm never going to love anyone ever again. All it does is come with heartbreak and death. The moment I let my heart feel affection for someone, that someone gets doomed to a terrible death, whether it be bitten or stabbed or shot or drowned. But there's no doubt about it - they will die. I won't make any person go through that ever again."

A/N: I remember when I first manufactured Holly's past, it made me really emotional. Although you never got to meet Lynn, I hope you as the readers feel the pain of losing that little girl just as Holly did and I do. I have a question for you, just some food for thought: Do you think Holly could've done something different to save Lynn, to stop her from dying?

Answer in a review and I'll shout you out when I post my next chapter! As always, thanks for reading!


	5. Five

Five

Michonne turned around. She stared straight into my eyes, and I could see that hers were watering. "Well, I'm sorry you feel that way. Love is a beautiful thing, Holly, even though it's hard to find in a world like this."

I nodded, not in agreement, just understanding. I didn't say anything though, for at that moment a car engine growled in the distance, and a truck came barreling down the road.

"Get back, Holly!" Sasha warned me as the truck slowed to a stop on the other side of the road.

"Why?" I kept my eyes on the truck. "I'm curious."

Sasha didn't say anything else.

Suddenly the truck's doors swung open and three people got out: two men and a woman. They walked towards us, one of the men leading the way. We stood with Michonne slightly to the front, her katana drawn.

"Don't come any closer."

Her voice was stern and commanding, and the man stopped. His partners lingered behind, the woman with her arms crossed and the man looking around quite stupidly.

"Fine." The leading man spoke gruffly and emotionlessly. His hair was reddish ginger and so was the light makings of a beard that clung to his heavy jawline. His arms were laced with thick muscles that were shown off by the sleeveless shirt he wore. Something about him told me he was military.

The woman was young, and her dark hair was tied in two low ponytails under an army green hat. Her tan skin was very visible, what with the loose crop top that was tied in the front and the high waisted shorts. Like her hat, both articles of clothing were army green. Earrings dangled down to her chin, and a slight smirk was painted on her face.

The other man had black hair slicked back into a mullet. His eyes were dull and emotionless and sunken into his pale, doughy face. He was a bit horizontally challenged, in my opinion, although if it was muscle or fat I couldn't tell, as his baggy shirt covered it all. From what I could gather, he was probably the least intelligent of the three and probably didn't talk much..

As the leader spoke again I averted my attention back to him. "We're not going to hurt you. I'm Abraham. Former army man before the shit hit the fan. This is Rosita, and Eugene."

Rosita jutted out her chin. "Got any manpower you wanna hand over?"

Michonne narrowed her eyes. "You see awful quick to get to the point."

"And you seem awful suspicious, sword lady." Abraham shot back. "Why don't you simmer down, lower your weapon, and tell us your names."

Michonne lowered her katana only a fraction of an inch. "Michonne."

I flicked my gaze from Michonne to Abraham and then, on some bold stroke of kindness, stuck out my hand. "I'm Holly."

Michonne stared at me, surprised, as Abraham smiled in amusement. He reached forward to shake my hand, and then we both stepped back. "Now, this little lady knows her manners. I don't suppose she's handy with a gun, too?"

I held up my hatchet. "I'm better with a blade. Tyreese has my knife." I pointed down the line to Tyreese. "And that's his sister, Sasha."

Rosita's dark eyes were focused on me. "Well, Holly, would you like to join us? We're gonna need more men if we're ever gonna get Eugene to D.C."

"D.C.?" Sasha spoke up. "Why?"

"He," Abraham jabbed a finger towards Eugene, "knows how it happened."

I felt my stomach lurch. "You… you mean… the apocalypse?" I looked at Eugene. He was currently standing with his arms dangling limply at his sides, staring blankly up at the sky. Honestly, he seemed really stupid. How had he, of all people, figure it out? "Well, how did it start?"

"That, my friend," Abraham said solemnly, "is classified. If you come with us, we'll have a better chance of reaching Washington, and then we can stop it all. We can stop that." He reached out and pointed behind him, where a walker was lumbering its way out of the trees. He didn't look at it, but kept his eyes fixed on me.

Nobody else moved to kill it as it lumbered forward. Eugene just turned around and stared at it emotionlessly, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Well, if nobody else is going to do it." I shrugged and walked briskly over to the walker, pushing it back by the shoulder when it tried to grab at me. I raised my hatchet and brought it down swiftly, driving it into the rotted skull. Dark red blood spurted from the crack, spattering across my cheek, joining the dirt and grime that already covered it. I let the body fall and walked back over to Michonne. "You're welcome," I said sweetly as I passed Abraham.

Michonne blinked at me. "That was dangerous."

I looked up at her. "None of you guys were moving to kill it. It would've gotten at Eugene." Leaning in closer, I whispered, "We're not going with these people, are we? I mean, come on, we gotta find your group. And I ain't going nowhere but wherever Daryl is."

"Of course we're not going. They can get to D.C. on their own." Michonne assured me.

"Wait." Sasha nudged her way into our conversation. "We're not going with them? You're crazy. Odds are Daryl's dead anyways."

I gasped and Michonne shot Sasha a dark glare. "What about Bob?" My friend said coldly. "Odds are Bob's dead, too. Don't you want to find out?"

I looked up at Sasha as her jaw hardened. "Who's Bob?" I asked.

Sasha glared at me, then Michonne, then spun around and walked back to her brother.

Rosita joined Michonne and I on the side of the road. "So. Are you and the other two coming with us?"

Michonne shook her head. "No. We're busy."

I suddenly got an idea. I wasn't sure if it would work or not, but it was worth a try. Tucking my hatchet through my belt loop, I crossed my arms. "You know, Rosita, you're right. You do need more manpower to get to D.C." Michonne looked at me like I was crazy, but I continued. "But, we need manpower too. So here's the deal. You help us find our group, and then we'll talk about Washington. Got it?"

Rosita looked at me for a second, then beckoned Abraham over. When he reached us, she said, "The girl says that if we help her find her group, they'll come with us to D.C."

"'The girl' has a name." I told her, annoyed. "It's Holly. And we said we'll consider it. There's a lot of us, maybe 50. I don't know how many survived, but we're gonna find who's left, and we're gonna stick with them. I ain't going anywhere near D.C. 'till I'm with my group."

Michonne stared at me in surprise. In truth, I was surprised myself. There I was, showing great loyalty to a group I had never even met. I wasn't sure why I was doing it. I think part of it was that Daryl was involved. To think, my own uncle that I hadn't seen since I was six was still alive, and I was going to be reunited with him soon! The excitement fluttered in my chest as I waited for a response from Abraham and Rosita.

Abraham looked me straight in the eye. "How about this: you get us to D.C. and we stop the apocalypse, save the world, and then you get reunited with your group. Deal?"

I crossed my arms. "No deal. It will take weeks, months even to reach the capital. But then Daryl could be dead and gone. I ain't taking that risk."

"Who's Daryl?" Rosita asked. "Brother? Boyfriend?"

"He's my uncle." I told her. "We've been separated for a while, and I'm gonna find him. Now. Are you coming, or are you going on your field trip to get the Expressionless Ape over there to the non existent government?"

BANG.

A/N: Here's a little taste of Holly's sarcastic fire, which is something I personally really like about her. Also, in case you can't tell, Holly really doesn't like Sasha. In her opinion, Sasha's too skeptical and pessimistic. At the time that I wrote this, I didn't like Sasha too much, and it reflected in my writing of this.

As always, review, review, review!


	6. Six

Six

BANG.

BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG.

A sudden series of gunshots from behind the truck made us all run over. Eugene was standing there, spinning in circles as his finger held down the trigger of a machine gun.

"What are you doing?" Michonne screamed.

"We got walkers!" Eugene shouted back.

I looked around. It was true, there were some walkers pooling out of the woods, but not many. Certainly not enough for Eugene to be letting bullets fly like that. Michonne and I ducked behind the truck and Rosita backed away as Abraham launched himself at Eugene, tackling him to the ground. He wrenched the gun from the shooter's hands, tossing it aside. "You idiot!" He seethed. "You're gonna draw all the walkers for miles!"

Rosita pulled out a pistol and shot down the few remaining walkers. "Everybody, in the truck. We gotta go before we get surrounded."

Sasha eagerly began her walk to the military vehicle, but Tyreese grabbed her arm. "Sasha. No. Look at that truck."

Abraham turned towards it, bristling. "Ain't nothin' wrong with my truck!" Then he stopped in shock before racing at Eugene, "You idiot!"

Curious, I looked around the edge of the truck. There were bullet holes spitting the whole side of the truck, damaging beyond repair. I dropped to the ground, along with Abraham, and we both peered underneath to see the truck's gas leaking out through the bottom. "Yeah," I mused. "It's busted."

Abraham didn't acknowledge me. "How is it that you," he turned to look at Eugene, "managed to break my truck?"

I smirked, slightly. "There's no way you're gettin' to D.C. in that. Come on now, let's go find my group." I turned and began walking down the road. Michonne, her katana strapped to her back, and a light smile dancing on her lips, followed, along with Tyreese and a reluctant Sasha. Rosita, after only a slight hesitation and a knowing glance at Abraham, crossed her arms and joined us along the road.

"I'm smarter than you." Eugene's slow, monotone voice droned before he began walking as well.

With a sigh, Abraham picked up his things from the back of his damaged truck before picking up the rear. "Let's get this over with."

"Hey, come look at this." I said, staring at a sign on the side of the road. A few hours had passed, and we were now coming up alongside a set of train tracks cutting through the forest. A hand painted sign was pinned up next to the tracks, and as the rest of my companions pooled around me, I read it aloud. "Sanctuary for all. Community for all. Those who arrive, survive."

Tyreese shifted over to the map of the train tracks we were now standing on. "They all lead to the same place. Terminus, it's called."

Sasha turned away. "We're not going."

"Oh, yes we are." I grabbed her by the shirt. "Daryl could be there."

Tyreese walked over to his sister. "Sasha. I saw Bob run off in the same direction Lizzie and Mika went. If we was with the kids, he would take them here. It could be a safe place. Safer than out here in the open, anyways."

Bob, whoever he was, was obviously a sore topic for Sasha. She didn't say anything, just stared at her brother with an unreadable expression.

Rosita wandered over to the other side of the sign. "Hey, you guys know a Maggie? Or a Glenn?"

Michonne and I shared an excited glance before hurrying around to Rosita. I gasped. There, painted in blood on the metal, was an urgently written, yet meticulously legible message: GLENN GO TO TERMINUS MAGGIE.

"Glenn and Maggie are in our group." Michonne told Rosita, Abraham, and Eugene. "She's been here, leaving a message to Glenn to let him know that she's alive and where to meet her. Come on. We're going to Terminus."

Abraham and Rosita exchanged wary looks. "Now, I don't know about this," Abraham said tentatively. "Could be a trap, this Terminus place."

"All the more reason to head towards it. If Maggie's gone there, then the others could have, too." I told him swiftly. "So let's get moving."

Eugene tilted his head a little bit as he started down the tracks. "On my way."

We found three more messages from Maggie, all painted in blood on the metal backside of a Terminus sign. Nobody said anything for awhile, until Sasha suddenly stopped. "We need to make camp for the night."

I looked up - the sky was beginning to fade from blue to orange, to pink, to purple, and then to the dark of night. "We can get a little farther. We should keep"-

"No." Michonne stopped me. "Sasha's right. The sun will go down quickly. We should stop for the night."

My shoulders slumped and I felt my face redden, if only slightly. "Oh. Right."

Using some rope from Sasha's backpack and some pots and pans from Abraham's, we made a temporary barrier around ourselves so that the walkers wouldn't get at us easily. Then we sat around, eating what little food we allowed ourselves to ration out, devising a schedule for who should be on watch during the night.

"I'll take the first watch," Tyreese offered. "When I get tired, I'll wake Michonne."

"I'll be next." Abraham raised his palm.

Michonne nodded. "Let's have one more. Rosita, would you"-

"I'll do it." I cut in. Michonne turned to stare at me. "Really, I will. I won't let you down. Promise."

Abraham and Sasha exchanged doubtful looks, and Rosita crossed her arms and stared at me. Michonne eyed me for just a moment before smiling. "Of course. Couldn't say no to Little Dixon."

I smiled back, proud of myself for getting Mitch to trust me so much so quickly. It was almost like she considered me a real member of the group.

A/N: Sorry guys, it's been a little while! I've been so busy, my life is very hectic right now. Also, to the commenter who asked, Holly is thirteen! I believe it mentioned it somewhere in the past few chapters, or maybe it's in a chapter yet to come... Holly is thirteen years old! Same as Carl.


	7. Seven

Seven

"Hey. Hey! Dixie! Little Dixon!" Abraham's low voice whisper-shouted in my ear. I sat up quickly, my eyes wide. "Your turn for watch," he told me.

I nodded. "Right. Thanks, Abraham." I moved to sit on the edge, looking out over the rope. Abraham laid back down, but I could feel his eyes boring into my back. I looked over my shoulder at him. "Go to sleep. I can do this on my own, you know."

He didn't say anything to me, just rolled over so he was facing away from me.

I rolled my eyes and focused my attention back to the dark forest. I began thinking about Michonne's group. Really, I hadn't cared about any of them but Daryl when she first told me about the,. But now I went through all of their names in my mind.

Lizzie. Michonne had made her sound a bit crazy, but she couldn't be that bad, could she? A potential friend. Her sister, Mika. Carl. More potential friends. Judith. Not really a potential friend until she got older, and who knew if she and I would both be around by then? Maggie. Beth. Like me in the way that they had both lost their father. Beth was young enough to be a potential friend, too. Maggie might be more mature, more preoccupied with survival. Glenn. Probably like Maggie, more preoccupied. Still, he and Maggie could be friends for me. Tyreese and Sasha. So far, they weren't my favorites. Sasha was too negative, Tyreese too disbelieving. Neither of them seemed to think I could do anything. I didn't think either of them were exactly 'friend' material. Rick. Carl's dad, former leader. He might be a bit controlling, if he was sore about not being leader anymore. Carol. Motherly, probably, seeming as she adopted Lizzie and Mika, but, well, maybe violent? She had apparently killed two of her own group.

And then there was Daryl. I don't think I can even begin to express in words how excited I was feeling. When everyone I had ever saw as family died, I thought I was alone. So, so alone. But now… now I had hope. I wasn't going to be alone any longer.

My thoughts were cut off as a low, choked growling reached my ears. I quickly rose to my feet, fingers wrapping instinctively around the handle of my hatchet. I was expecting just one walker to come at me, one normal walker with torn clothes and ripped skin and dark blood. But what I saw made me cover my mouth to keep from screaming.

The walker that emerged from the shadows was like none I'd ever seen before. It had scorched clothes, burned skin, and a chilling absence of blood. It was a shell of a person, coal black and steaming. It was a burned bod. And then there were more burned bodies, all of them covered in ash and their skin melted away. Truthfully, I wanted to vomit.

I didn't want to move my hand away from my mouth, but I did, and that time I did scream, because there were too many to kill on my own.

"Michonne! Wake up! There's too many for me to get by myself!"

As I drove my blade through the head of the closest walker, Michonne and the others began to wake.

"Holy"- Abraham's words were drowned out in the growls of the growing mass of burnt walkers. I'm actually glad it did, because what he said next is not something a thirteen year old should repeat, even in storytelling.

Within seconds Michonne, Abraham, Sasha, and Tyreese were helping me kill them. Eugene grabbed at a gun, but I hurried over and yanked it out of his hands. He stared at me as I passed it to Rosita. "Sorry," I told him, not really sorry that I had taken it away but more so because he didn't know how to use it, "but I don't want you recreating the Boston Massacre on us."

"Holly!" Michonne yelled.

"Yeah?"

"You and Eugene grab as much of our stuff as you can. Don't bother unknotting the ropes with the pots, just pack up everything else. We gotta get outta here."

"Of course." I turned to Eugene. "You heard her. Get packing."

He nodded, and together Eugene and I hurriedly stuffed all we could into backpacks and plastic bags. Within about half a minute we had as much stuff as we could carry.

"Alright," I yelled, "Let's go!"

The others turned around from their positions and grabbed a bag or two each. Then we ducked under the ropes and were gone in the opposite direction.

I could hear them following us, and it made me run faster. In the distance - well, not too far away, actually - I could see a house, and a barn, and a decent sized yard, all surrounded by a wire fence. "That way!" I yelled, raising my arm in a brief point. Nobody answered me, but I assumed that it was because they were all too busy running.

For a second Tyreese was by my side, but then I lost him. Rosita's ponytails were in my sight for a moment, but then they were gone as well. I quickly realized that they were gone because they had hopped the fence and were making a break for the barn.

When I reached the fence I went to duck between the barbed wires, but unfortunately for me my boot got caught on the fence and I tripped and fell. I groaned aloud as my body hit the ground. Like, seriously? How cliche is that?

I rolled onto my back and yanked on my foot, but, well, lucky me! The laces of my boot were all tangled up in the barbed wire. My breath caught in my throat when the burned walkers began to lunge from the trees, every single sunken eye zoomed in on one thing - me.

"Michonne!" I screamed, repeatedly yanking on my foot. In my fall I had dropped my hatchet, and it was laying too far away from me to grab. "Mitch, help me!"

"Holly!" I heard Michonne's panicked voice and knew that she had heard my cry. Footsteps sounded and I continued yanking on my foot. Instead of stopping to help me get my foot free, Michonne leapt towards the fence and began cutting heads off. I was beginning to relax, knowing I would be safe, as gunshots rang. Abraham and the others were dropping down walkers as well. Suddenly my whole body jerked forward. A few walkers had dropped low to the ground, beneath bullet and katana range, and had grabbed ahold of my foot. They dragged me towards them, fingers digging into my combat boots, teeth snapping for my flesh.

I screamed again and struggled against them, still unable to free my foot. The walkers yanked me towards them, but because of my laces being entangled in the wire, I would not move any closer. The burned corpses were persistent, though, and continued pulling until my ankle snapped.

Tears sprung to my eyes and I tried to blink them back, now wildly trying to scramble backwards away from the fence. I let out a whimper. I was only causing myself more pain.

A new set of footsteps pounded behind me, and I glanced over my shoulder. It was a girl, only a little bit younger than me, probably eleven or twelve. "Hold still," she told me urgently and calmly. "I've got this."

Stunned, I obeyed and watched as the girl simply grabbed at the walkers through the fence by their shoulders, shoving them back. Quickly she worked her fingers into the laces of my combat boots, untangling them from the barbed wire. A few seconds later, I was free. I pulled my foot back painfully and looked up at the girl.

She stared back down at me, before her blue eyes widened and filled up with tears. "Stop shooting!" She screamed over her shoulder. "Tyreese and Sasha, stop shooting them!"

I was taken aback. If she knew their names, then that meant she must've been from the prison group! Mika? Or Lizzie?

My thoughts were confirmed when Michonne spun around. "Lizzie?"

Lizzie continued crying, her shoulders shaking. "Sometimes we have to kill them. I know that. But sometimes we don't."

I understood what Lizzie meant immediately. "She's right." I said after a moment, and immediately all eyes were on me. "We don't have to kill them. There's only a few left. We can just go inside the hose and wait it out. They'll lose interest and go away."

A/N: This is a really weird, choppy ending to a chapter but it's fine oh well. Like I said before, I'm not editing any of this. Just posting it as it was written four years ago. Reviews are always encouraged!


	8. Eight

Eight

Just then the door to the house opened and a thin lady with short, slightly curling gray hair ran out. "Lizzie? Lizzie, I heard gunshots"- she froze in place, and her face broke out into a shocked smile. "Michonne! Sasha, Tyreese!" The lady looked around at the four people she had never seen before - Abraham, Rosita, Eugene, and me. "Who are these people? Oh my god, is that girl hurt?"

I clucked my tongue against the roof of my mouth. "No, I'm fine. I just decided to twist my ankle to the side and lay on my back in the blood drenched grass."

Michonne swatted at my head with the back of her hand. "Stop it. Yes, Carol, she's hurt. Foot got caught in the fence when we were running away from those walkers."

I sat up. "I'm tellin' ya, I'm fine." To prove it, I attempted to pull myself to my feet. Key word here: attempted. As soon as I put weight on my right foot, a sharp pain coursed up through my leg. I whimpered and fell back down again.

Tyreese lumbered towards me. "You're gonna make it worse." He bent down and scooped me up in his arms. I let him, seeing as I wasn't about to be walking. Tyreese turned to the gray haired lady. "Carol, where can I take her?"

The lady, whom I suddenly caught on to as being Carol, stared around at all of us. I looked around at us myself. Abraham and Rosita were standing protectively on either side of Eugene, who stared at the burned walker corpses emotionlessly. Michonne stood with her bloody katana's tip dragging in the equally as bloody grass, Lizzie was still sobbing lightly yet looking at me, curled up in Tyreese's arms as Sasha hovered behind him, with appreciation in her eyes. Well weren't we a sight for sore eyes.

Carol finally spoke. "Why don't we all go inside, and we can sort everything out."

Michonne nodded. "Alright."

Carol wrapped an arm around Lizzie's shoulders and led the way inside. I looked back and saw my hatchet, laying in the grass. I made Tyreese stop and pick it up for me before he carried me into the house.

When we got inside, Carol led us all towards what looked to be a living room. "Mika!" She called. "Come here!"

A few moments later, a little blonde girl probably no older than eight or nine ran into the room. In her hands she clutched a large, worn out rag doll with stringy red hair. "Look what I found!" She squealed, showing it to Carol. "I'm going to call her, Griselda Grundleson!" A grin on her face, Mika hurried into the living room and seated herself on the floor in front of the unlit fireplace.

I stared at her, my heart beginning to ache. She reminded me of Tom and Ellen's daughter. She was a slightly older version of Lynn.

Tyreese lowered me down in a ratty brown recliner, my foot sitting out in front of me. Lizzie went and sat on the floor by her sister, watching her play with the doll. Tyreese, Sasha, and Michonne sat on the couch, and Abraham, Eugene, and Rosita seated themselves in chairs at the table. Carol leaned against the doorway.

"I'm thinking we need to do some introductions. I'm Abraham. This here's Rosita, and Eugene." Abraham extended a hand to Carol, who shook it.

"I'm Holly Dixon," I piped up.

Carol's head whipped around to stare at me. "Dixon?"

I nodded. "Daryl's my uncle. My dad was Merle."

Lizzie's eyes flickered over to me for a second, then back down to her sister.

Carol looked astonished. "Merle had kids?"

"Not kids," I told her. "Kid. In singular. As in, just me."

"Well, who's your mother? Did he raise you?"

"It's complicated." I ran my hand through my hair, tugging out several knots. "Never really saw either of my parents much. They met at a club, both of them drunk as can be, got a hotel room. That's where I came in. They never even saw each other after that, except at court over child care. Merle wasn't allowed to keep me, which makes sense since he was arrested every other week. Lauren couldn't keep me neither, since she had no job and an unstable living situation. The Dixon side of the family couldn't have me, my Pop had been arrested and my Gram had died long before I was born. The Hamm side of the family were the only people I had. Lauren's parents, my Grandpa and Grandma. They took me in, and I grew up with them in northern Florida. But they've gone and died too and now I ain't got nobody 'cept Daryl." A quick glance over at the couch and I added, "And Michonne."

Michonne smiled slightly at me, and Carol did not. "Well, little Dixon, let's get your ankle treated. Hershel taught me a bit of what he knew, I might be able to help."

I nodded and let Carol come take ahold of my foot. She undid the laces and began to slide my combat boot off, and I whimpered and dug my fingers into the recliner chair's fabric.

Carol glanced up at me. "Sorry."

"No, I'm fine." I lied through my teeth. "Doesn't even… doesn't even hurt."

Carol didn't say anything else as she slowly worked my shoe off, and I felt Lizzie's gaze land on me again. I looked up to meet it, but her eyes were already on Mika and the apparent salsa dancer - at least in Mika's mind - Griselda Grundleson again.

When my shoe and sock were off, I winced at what I saw. My ankle was covered in a deep purple, blue, yellowish green bruise, and my foot was twisted inwards a bit too much to be natural. I bit my lip to hold back my yelps of pain as Carol, as gently as possible, felt around the area, looking for the break. After a few minutes, Carol sat back on her heels.

"Good news - it's not broken, just dislocated. Bad news - it's gonna hurt like crazy when I put it back into place."

I groaned. "Can't I have one good day?" I looked back at Carol. "Do it."

"Are you sure? You"-

"Just get it over with before I change my mind." I squeezed my eyes shut and waited. A second later, something plushy was being pushed into my hand. I opened my eyes to see Mika, handing me the rag doll.

"You can hold Griselda Grundleson while Carol fixes your leg." The blonde girl told me, smiling.

I smiled back at her and accepted the doll. "Thanks, Mika." Mika nodded and went to sit down again as I closed my eyes. Gripping Griselda Grundleson around the middle, I let out a sharp cry as Carol popped my bone back into its socket. Blinking back tears, I sat up.

"Is it over?"

Carol nodded. "Yes. But it'll be painful for a few more days, so go easy on it."

Nodding thankfully, I turned to Mika. "Thank you for letting me hold Griselda." I smiled, holding out the doll for Mika to take. "She was really comforting."

Mika grinned at me. "She was happy to help."

Abraham whistled, drawing the room's attention to himself. "So, what's the plan? Terminus? Or do we stay here?"

Carol glanced at me. "We'll need to stay for a few more days, at least. Holly needs to rest up."

I threw my head back. "Oh, please don't make me be that person."

Michonne frowned. "What person?"

I nodded. "Yeah. You know, the one that holds the whole group back and ends up getting everyone else killed."

"Stop it," Michonne scolded lightly. "You're not getting anybody killed, little Dixon."

I nodded, but Lizzie's expressionless blue eyes boring into me again were more unnerving than anything else.

A/N: Hey! Sorry, it's been a long time without an update but, the holiday season is just really busy, as I'm sure you know. I hope to get back into the swing of at least two chapters a week on this, there are sixteen chapters total so hey, we're halfway through! Yes, this is a shorter story, but a longer sequel is not out of the question- I just haven't written it yet.

Anyways, comments are super motivating and encouraged, so, review away!


	9. Nine

Nine

The rain is beating down heavily on me as I stand, perfectly still, on the top of the hill. The fog had settled long ago, hanging silently in the stuffily warm air. It is so thick that I can't even see five feet in front of me. But I'm not alone. I can't see them, or hear them, but I can feel them, like their presence lets off waves of energy that bounce into me and let me know they are there.

"Hello?" My voice is strangely echoing, as if I were shouting into a long valley. "Who is it?"

"Holly!"

An elderly woman's voice reaches my ears, followed by an elderly man's.

"Holly, where are you?"

I gasp. I know those voices. "Grandma? Grandpa? Grandpa, I'm right here! Grandma!"

I try to run, to reach my dear grandparents, but all of a sudden the puddles of rain gather together at my feet and freeze, trapping me there. Now that the rain has stopped, the voices can be heard more clearly. There are more of them now, too. All of the voices of all of the people I've lost, ringing in my ears and coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

"Holly!"

"Why'd you leave?"

"Holly, you left us!"

"Holly!"

"You didn't save me, Holly!"

All of a sudden the fog lifted, and all around me were people. No, not people. Walkers. My breath caught in my throat as they all turned at me and I saw their faces.

It was my Grandpa. My Grandma. Lauren. Tom, Ellen, Lynn. Nick, Vance. Hayden. Merle and Daryl as I last saw them. Michonne, Tyreese, Sasha, Abraham, Eugene, Rosita, and Carol. Mika was next, dragging a torn up Griselda Grundleson in her limp hand. Then, finally, Lizzie turned and lumbered towards me. There was blood dripping from a wound in her shoulder, her skin torn away by a walker. Her long blonde hair was loose from its braid, falling in her face. But then she tilted her head a fraction to the side, just a fraction, and I could see it.

Her eyes.

They weren't the yellowed, glazed over, dead eyes of a normal walker. They were blue, bright blue, and were staring straight into my own eyes. They were… alive.

I screamed.

My eyes sprang open and I sat up, looking around the dark room. I was still sitting in the recliner in the living room, and it was night. The others, I assumed, had gone to bed. I was alone. Or so I thought.

Through my barely open, sleepy eyes, I saw a shadow cut through the thin moonlight. A flash of long hair, the glowing of pale skin.

It was Lizzie.

She leaned over me, brushing my hair out of my eyes. I groaned and began to sit up, but she gentle pushed me back down. "Hush," she said, her voice surprisingly calm and caring. "Stay down, Holly. It's gonna be alright."

I relaxed into her touch as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

"Don't worry," Lizzie told me carefully. "You're gonna help me. You're gonna come back, and then they'll see…"

Her hand moved slightly down out of my sight and her fist closed around something. She lifted it back up and moved it to rest against my abdomen, all the while staring right into my eyes. "Don't worry," she whispered. "You're helping me…" My eyes drifted down to see what she was holding. There, pressed slightly against my abdomen, was a long, sharp, bloodstained-

"Lizzie?"

Carol's voice interrupted the calm silence, and the pressure on my abdomen was removed.

Lizzie stood up straight just as Carol came in. "She was moaning in her sleep," the blonde girl told the older woman. "I came to see if she was alright."

I opened my eyes slightly and looked to Lizzie's hands. They were empty. I searched her whole figure, but the mysterious object that had been pressed into my skin was nowhere to be seen.

I sank further into the seat, beginning to wonder if I had imagined it. I was probably just shaken up by my dream, and besides - Lizzie was a nice girl, wasn't she?

I had never been more wrong in my entire life.

A/N: A shorter chapter, sorry about that, but I felt like the ending was satisfying enough that if I continued on the chapter would lose it's effect as a chilling foreshadowing of what's to come.

Haven't had any reviews in a while, just a reminder that they are always always always super duper appreciated!


	10. Ten

p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%;"span style="text-decoration: underline;"span style="background: transparent;"Ten/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"I didn't see Lizzie much in the next three days; only in the mornings when she would come downstairs, grab a handful of pecans from the bowl on the counter, and give me a hard stare. Then she would disappear outside for the rest of the day, doing whatever it is that eleven year old psychopaths do. I had learned that Carol had baby Judith with her, and, since I was apparently not yet fit enough to walk, it became my job to take care of her. Eugene helped out, since all he did was stay inside. Abraham and Rosita set about patrolling the fence, and Tyreese, Sasha, and Michonne went out scavenging and hunting, and all the while searching for more of the group. Carol fended for Mika, who spent her days playing in the barn with Griselda Grundleson./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"On the fourth day of me being confined to the recliner chair, Mika came in to play in the living room, in front of the fireplace like she had the first night. As she plopped own on the floor with Griselda Grundleson, Carol said to Eugene and me, as if we were children, "I'm going with Michonne, Tyreese, and Sasha to check out the next stretch of railroad track. Abraham and Rosita are outside, but don't leave the fence while we're gone. Lizzie's playing in the barn, I'm going to send her over here."/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"Eugene just nodded like an obedient child. Mika made Griselda Grundleson waved. "Bye Carol!"/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"I just nodded lightly, not looking up from the giggling baby in my arms. Judith grinned up at me, playing with my fingers in her chubby hands. She took my knuckle and pulled it into her mouth, laughing. I pulled my finger out and tapped her on the nose./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"When Carol left, Mika looked up at me. "Judith likes you."/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"I smiled at Mika. "Yeah. I guess she does."/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"Mika stared at me for a minute. "Don't be afraid of Lizzie."/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;""spanspanWhat?" My gaze shot up to meet hers. "I'm not afraid of Lizzie."/span/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;""spanspanYes you are," Mika said firmly. "I've seen the way you look wat her. You're terrified." I didn't say anything, and Mika leaned closer. "I don't know what she said to you, but don't be afraid of her. She's not going to do anything to you."/span/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;""spanspanShe can do whatever she likes," I said warily. "When people are scared, they do crazy things."/span/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;""spanspanLizzie's not scared," Mika insisted. "She's messed up. She thinks the walkers are people. She says they're just different. She won't kill them."/span/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"I bounced Judith on my knee. "Do you kill them?"/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;""spanspanI try. I'm not… I'm not good at it."/span/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;""spanspanThat's okay. You'll get used to it. Don't stress over it too much, Mika. You're not on your own. We'll take good care of you." Smiling slightly, I added, "I'll take good care of you."/span/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"Mika looked up at me and smiled. "We'll take good care of you, too."/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;""spanspanWe?"/span/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"The girl raised one of her doll's worn out arms. "Me and Griselda Grundleson. She's very good at that sort of thing, you know."/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"I smiled halfheartedly at Mika's somewhat forced innocence. "Of course," I said. "Of course."/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"That afternoon I decided I was ready to try walking. Mika held Judith in her arms while I slowly pushed myself up out of the recliner chair and onto my feet. I let out a small yelp of pain as my right foot hit the ground, but I didn't stop. I continued to put weight on my leg, going into a short, struggling limp. I hobbled over to the wall, holding onto it for support./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"My chest heaving from just those few steps, I breathed out heavily, "Let's go outside."/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"The warm sun washing over my face as I stepped out the door was the best thing I had felt the whole week. As I tottered around in the grass, Eugene spread a blanket on the ground. Mika moved forwards and gently deposited Judith on top of it, then sat down next to her. Eugene stepped aside and tucked his hands in his pockets, whistling a tune to himself./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"I turned my face to the sky, welcoming the light and warmth of the sun. Then I realized something./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;""spanspanWhere's Lizzie?"/span/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"Mika looked around and shrugged. "She didn't come back from the barn like Carol said she was going to."/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"Just as I was about to suggest that we go to the barn and look for her, Lizzie herself appeared around the corner of the house. She looked flustered, and her hands were shaking./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;""spanspanHolly!" She called. "I need your help with something."/span/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"I eyed her. "What do you need?"/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"As she got closer, she stopped yelling. "There's a hole in the barn wall that I'm gonna fix. I need someone to keep watch while I do it."/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;""spanspanWhy don't you ask Rosita or Abraham?" Mika suggested./span/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"Lizzie shrugged. "Can't find 'em. Besides, Holly will help me! Won't you, Holly?"/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"I stared at her for a few seconds, then nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, sure." Turning to Mika, I said, "Stay here and keep an eye on Judith." Glancing at Eugene, I said to him, "Stay here."/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"Lizzie smiled as I began to hobble towards her. She turned around and led the way around the house and into the barn. She shut the barn door behind us with a thud, blocking off the exit. I looked around, not seeing any holes./span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;""spanspanSo where's this hole, Lizzie?" I asked cheerfully, turning around to face her. "Lizzie?"/span/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"Lizzie was standing perfectly still with her head down, eyes fixed on the floor. She was breathing through her mouth, and her chest was rising and falling heavily. Her hands had stopped shaking and were pressed close to her sides. "You agree with me, don't you?"/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"I frowned. "About what?"/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"She looked up, and her blue eyes filled with nervous hope, like she was daring herself to believe something that might not be true. "The walkers. They're not dead and they're not bad. They're just… different."/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"I sucked in a breath. "Oh… um… Lizzie… well, you see…" What do you say to that? No, I didn't agree with her, but I didn't want to make her mad. The girl was quite possibly a psychopath - who knew what she would do? My mind briefly flashed back to my conversation with Mika, but I shook it off. "Well, I can't say I totally agree with you." I chose my words carefully. "We don't always have to kill them, I know, and they aren't necessarily intentionally bad, but they are dead, and they're dangerous, and we have to protect ourselves from ending up like them."/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"Lizzie's hopeful eyes dropped into despair. "You're wrong! They're just different! They're not dangerous, they just want to make you different too!" Her expression hardened. "Maybe if you were different, you'd understand."/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; text-decoration: none;"span style="background: transparent;"A/N: Sorry, it's been a long while since I've posted! I might go right ahead and post a few more chapters tonight too. There's only 15 chapters I believe, so we're getting close to the end!/span/p 


	11. Eleven

Eleven

And then, from the waistband of her jeans, Lizzie produced a long, gleaming, bloodstained knife. She took a step towards me and, in one swift motion, pressed the tip under my chin, against my neck. Instantly I knew that that is what she had pressed against my stomach that first night in the house. My heart pounded at the fact that she had tried to kill me, and that she probably would've succeeded had Carol not shown up. I wanted to go thank her, but it would have to wait. There were more (and please excuse the pun) pressing matters at hand.

I quickly stepped back and grabbed Lizzie's wrist. "Lizzie." I tried to keep my voice firm, but I knew it was shaking. "Stop. You don't want to do this."

Lizzie was furious. "Mika will help me." She threw her arm forward, throwing me off balance. I stumbled backwards and landed in a pile of hay. By the time I had clambered to my feet, Lizzie was gone.

My heart was threatening to pound out of my chest in fear. Only one word crossed my mind - _Mika!_ Ignoring the pain, I ran out of the barn and around the house, just in time to hear Mika scream. I skidded to a stop and stared at the sight before me. Eugene was standing off to the side, and Judith was sitting on the blanket. Mika was standing, her blue eyes wide. And sticking out of her stomach was the hilt of a knife, her sister's fingers still wrapped around it.

Lizzie pulled the knife out, then pushed it back in. Mika gasped, too shocked to yell again. I snapped out of my trance and ran forward, pushing Lizzie out of the way. Her fingers slipped off of the knife, leaving it imbedded in her stomach. Mika let out a breath and toppled backwards. I caught her as she fell, slowly lowering her limp body to the ground.

Her eyes were still wide open in shock, and mine were blurry with tears. I blinked them back and wrapped my fingers around the knife. I started to ease it out slowly, but froze when Mika gasped again. It was better to leave the knife in, anyway. It was the only thing stopping the blood flow.

I cupped Mika's pale face in my shaky hands. "Mika?" My voice cracked. "Mika, look at me. Keep your eyes fixed on me."

The young girl obeyed, but I could see that she was fading. Each breath that passed through her parted lips sounded struggled and forced. She had tears in her eyes too, and as I watched, one of them escaped and rolled down her face. I rubbed it away with my thumb.

"Ho… Holly." She choked out, her voice barely audible.

"Shh," I whispered. "I'm so sorry, Mika."

She ignored my request for her to be quiet. "Please… please don't let me be one of them."

I nodded, the tears beginning to flow as I faced the truth. "I won't, Mika. I promise." I suddenly remembered another promise I had made to Mika, to protect her. I had said that I would take care of her. That made me cry even harder.

Mika let the ghost of a smile pass her lips as she limply gripped my hand. "I'll… I'll miss… miss you… Holly."

I brushed her blonde hair out of her face. "I'll miss you too, Mika."

She let another tear escape from her eyes, before she took one last breath and they closed forever. Somewhere close by, I heard a rush of footsteps, and a gasp. Then Lizzie's terribly excited voice, saying, "Don't worry, she'll come back. I didn't hurt her brains." But I wasn't paying attention to any of that. I wasn't paying any attention to Lizzie, or to whoever had just approached, or to Eugene, or to Judith. The only thing in the world that I was paying attention to was Mika. Poor, young, innocent Mika, who had died way too early. Killed by her own sister, the small, pale body lay in the grass right beside me. Trembling, I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. I gasped softly as my lips came in contact with her cold, pale skin.

"I'm sorry, Mika. I'm so sorry."

I'm not sure how long I sat by Mika's side, but it felt like ages. It couldn't have been long, though, because when I looked up, the sun was still high in the sky. Eugene was still standing off to the side, Judith was still sitting on the blanket, and Lizzie was still standing there, a breathless smile on her face, her hands at her sides.

Wait, no. Lizzie's hands were not at her sides. She was holding a pistol and aiming it at Carol and Tyreese.

Oh, no, I would not be having that. Nobody else I cared about would die today. I pushed myself to my feet and took the knife with me, pulling it out of Mika's stomach. Aiming it at Lizzie, I pulled my arm back to throw it. Then a strong hand wrapped itself around my wrist. I twisted my head to see Eugene.

"You idiot!" I screamed. "You stupid, ignorant, worthless idiot! You didn't do anything! You stood and watched while Lizzie killed Mika! You… you watched…" I broke down in tears and started to sink to the ground, but Eugene caught me in his arms and held me up. My hand went limp and the knife slipped out of my fingers, landing in the grass.

Lizzie lowered the pistol and spun around, her eyes widening as she saw me. "Carol! Keep her away from me! She - she tried to kill me!"

"I tried to kill you? You tried to kill me, and when I stopped you you went and killed Mika!" I struggled against Eugene's strength, trying to get to Lizzie. All I wanted to do was pick up that knife and make Lizzie feel the same pain that Mika had. But Eugene held me tightly, and I couldn't get away.

Carol covered her mouth in shock. "Lizzie, why?"

Lizzie's psychotic smile was back. "I wanted to make you understand. They're just different. When Mika comes back, you'll see that she's just different." A streak of fear crossed her face. "Don't touch her! Please!"

Carol hurried to calm Lizzie down. "Of… of course. We'll use her shoelaces. We'll tie her up so she won't leave."

Lizzie looked relieved. "Good. I was just about to change Judith too…"

"Oh, no, Lizzie," Carol said quickly. Lizzie stared at her, and she stammered, "Judith's too little. She can't even walk yet. She wouldn't make a good walker."

Lizzie nodded slowly. "Yeah. You're right, Carol." She smiled. "We'll have to wait to change Judith."

Tyreese stepped towards Lizzie. "Why don't we go wait inside while Carol ties up Mika and takes care of Holly."

Lizzie hesitated, then shot me a frightened look. She nodded. "Okay." She let Tyreese lead her into the house, her blood covered hands gleaming in the sun. As soon as she was gone, Carol began sobbing. She fell to her knees in front of Mika's bloodied form and ran her fingers through the long blonde hair.

A/N: This chapter made me really sad when I wrote it, I remember. The whole episode "The Grove" was really emotional for me, because I loved Mika and, admittedly, Lizzie. Anyways, thanks for reading!


	12. Twelve

Twelve

I strained against Eugene's strong grip. I wanted - no, I needed - to be on the ground next to Carol, saying goodbye to Mika. My fingers clawed at his skin, trying to pry him away, but Eugene just held me tighter.

"Carol, I'm sorry!" I sobbed. "This is my fault, I wasn't quick enough!"

Carol looked up, rubbing tears off of her face. "Eugene, let go of Holly."

Eugene's grip slackened and I broke free, shoving him away harshly. I collapsed on the ground next to Carol, looking up at her desperately. "I'm so sorry."

Carol put her hands on my shoulders gently. "Shh, calm down, Holly. Tell me what happened."

I forced myself to stop crying and tried to avoid looking at Mika. "Lizzie pulled me away to keep watch while she fixed a hole in the barn, said she couldn't find Abraham or Rosita. She shut us in the barn and tried… she tried to kill me. I pushed her away, told her to get off of me. She ran out, yelling that Mika would help her. By the time I got out here…" My voice broke and I shook my head, looking down and winding my bloody fingers in the bloody grass.

And then I remembered that Eugene had simply stood by and looked on.

"Carol." I said, my voice low and dark and full of anger. "How much do you value Eugene's life?"

Carol looked a bit surprised, but answered me anyways. "Well, he says he knows how to stop the apocalypse. So, a lot, I suppose."

"Yes," I agreed. "But what is he to you?"

"I don't know… a smart and emotionless friend?"

"Well, Carol, you'd better hurry up and do something, because in about five seconds you're not going to have a smart and emotionless friend anymore."

I drew my knife and threw myself at Eugene, aiming for his heart. I heard someone yell my name, and then a heavy weight slammed into my side. I hit the ground and struggled against the force. My arms were wrenched above my head and pinned to the ground, and my legs were held tight in the grass. I looked up and saw Abraham, his expression furious. With his left hand he kept my arms away, and with his knees he kept my legs still. In his right hand he held a knife - my knife - aimed at my neck. The blade was dancing against my chin.

"You tried to kill him," Abraham seethed. "You tried to kill Eugene."

"He deserves to die." I spat. "He stood and watched while Mika was stabbed to death by Lizzie. Lizzie killed her own sister, and your big fat stupid caveman over there didn't move a muscle to stop her! You should've let me kill him. I'd be doin' the world a favor."

Abraham stared down at me. "I'm gonna kill her, Rose! I'm gonna kill her!"

Rosita appeared over Abraham's shoulder. She didn't say anything, but her eyes were cold and angry. She agreed with Abraham, I could tell.

Abraham was about to plunge the knife into my throat when a long, gleaming blade slid into view, pressing lightly against his neck. "Kill her and I kill you." Michonne threatened.

I held my breath and waited as Abraham cursed quietly before climbing off of me. Then Michonne appeared over me and I took her hand, letting her pull me up. When I was standing again, I looked around. Sasha was holding Judith against her chest, and Carol was standing over Mika's body. Eugene was lingering off to the side, and I raised my fists and started towards him. I was going to kill that poor excuse for a human being with my bare hands if I had to. Abraham jumped in front of me at the last second, and my blows bounced harmlessly off of his chest.

"Come near him again," he growled, "and I will not hesitate to kill you."

"You can't watch him 24/7." I threatened back.

Abraham looked up at Michonne. "I want her gone. I want her gone and I don't care how. If she's still here in the morning, I'll kill her myself." He gathered up his group mates and walked into the house, he and Rosita flanking Eugene.

I spun around angrily. "He wants me gone? Fine. I'll be gone. I'll find Daryl on my own, and you guys can take a field trip to Wishing Well D.C. You're not gonna find any government there. All you're gonna find is empty minded stragglers who don't give a crap 'bout anybody but themselves. You ain't gonna find nothing but useless hopes and wishes. You'll see." I turned to storm away, but Michonne grabbed my arm.

"Holly." Her voice was solemn. "You can't run off like this."

I yanked my arm away. "Who's going to stop me?"

Michonne stepped in front of me. "I will." I looked up at her, and her eyes were full of pleading. "You're injured and the forest is full of walkers. You're going to get yourself killed."

"Then maybe I'll be with my dad." I started to walk away, then stopped and spun around. "Look, Mitch. I need to find Daryl, you need to find your group. We're looking for different people." Michonne started to speak, but I cut her off. "I know. Daryl's part of your group. But if you find your group, everyone except for Daryl, you'll eventually stop looking for him. Right?" I didn't wait for an answer. "If that happens, I'm gonna leave anyway, to find him. It's better I leave now." I glared at the flickering light in the house window. "And besides. I ain't travelin' with them. Either they'll kill me, or I'll kill them, or we'll kill each other." My voice hardened. "I know better than to stick around where I'm not wanted."

I limped past Carol and grabbed my bag from the blanket where I had set it earlier. Then I picked my knife up off of the ground by Sasha's feet and tucked it into my belt loop. I brushed past Michonne on my way to the trees. No one tried to stop me. I was nearly to the fence when I stepped on something. I looked down and saw a knife.

Lizzie's knife.

I bent down and picked it up, remembering what Mika had told me as she died. Again, I turned around and walked back over. Then I reached Mika's body, I got down on my knees, by her head. I could feel the eyes of Michonne, Carol, and Sasha trained on me as I gently closed Mika's sterling blue eyes that hadn't quite glazed over yet. I gripped the hilt of Lizzie's knife tighter in my fist, breathing out heavily as I raised my arm. "Mika wanted me to do this."

And with all of my anger at Lizzie for killing Mika and Eugene for letting Lizzie kill Mika and Abraham for not letting me kill Eugene and even Daryl for not being there, I slammed the knife down.

A/N: I know it's supposed to be emotional but as I read through this just now for the first time in over a year I couldn't help but laugh at how out of character Carol is. The part where Holly asks her what Eugene is to her… why did I write that? Who knows. Hope you had fun reading it though.


	13. Thirteen

Thirteen

"Ouch!" I stepped around a tree and tripped over its roots. My ankle screamed in pain, but I gritted my teeth and pushed myself to my feet. I had to keep moving. I had to get to the train tracks.

As soon as I had stopped Mika from becoming a walker, I had left. I didn't thank Michonne for helping me. I didn't give my sympathy to Carol about losing her adopted daughter. I didn't tell Sasha that she and her brother sucked at killing walkers. I didn't take Judith in my arms or tell her to be a good girl. I put my knife in my bag, replaced it in my belt loop with Lizzie's blade, and hopped the fence as gracefully as I could.

I had decided that I would go to Terminus anyways. Daryl could be there, and if he wasn't I would just leave. So I needed to get to the train tracks so I could figure out which way to go to get to Terminus.

Before long I reached a small field. A graveyard, actually. I could see the headstones poking out of the ground. In the distance beyond them was a neat little white church. The windows were intact and the doors were shut, and I started towards it. I barely paid attention to the gravestones, but one of them caught my eye. It said something about a father, but that's not what struck me as weird. No, what I was paying attention to was the few flowers that were laid across the top of the stone. And they weren't wilted. Someone had been there recently and laid flowers on that grave.

It occurred to me that there might be someone living in the church, but the thought of food was too tempting. I kept going.

When I got to the church's front door I caught made my way around the perimeter, peering in the windows. There were several walkers lying dead on the floor, but as far as I could tell there weren't any live ones. I opened the door and walked in.

My instincts led me straight to the kitchen.

I instantly jumped for the cupboards, throwing doors open. Well, there was food alright. Cans of soup and cans of peaches and cans of beans and cans of pudding and basically cans of everything. My mouth watered and my stomach growled at the sight of it. I grabbed at a can of chicken noodle soup and cut the lid off with my knife. I wiped my dirty hands on my jeans before scooping out curly noodles, chunks of chicken, and soggy carrots into my mouth. Then I downed the cold broth and wiped my mouth on my sleeve. A can of pudding was next, which I ate using a spoon I found in a drawer. After that was the peaches, then basically every other type of canned food in the cupboard.

And then I promptly threw up in the sink.

I stretched out across a pew on my back, yawning. I had spent the whole day in the church, stuffing my face. I threw up about three more times, but I didn't regret any of it. It probably wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done, but I'd done more stupid things. Besides, I was so hungry it was almost unreal.

I had found an old dishcloth and used it to wipe clean my hatchet, knife, and Lizzie's knife. There was a pistol and a few more bullets in a safe room in the basement, and I had taken those. I refilled my water bottle with soup broth and stashed a few cans of beans and peaches in my bag. My blue pen, which when I tested on a napkin brought forth no ink, ended up left on the counter. All in all, I was having a pretty good day. And I jinxed myself by thinking that.

I must have fallen asleep, because when I opened my eyes it was night and there were walkers pounding against the windows. I sat up quickly and grabbed my bag, slinging it over my back. _Gotta go, gotta go._ Making a break for the door, I heard a crash and spun to see that the walkers had pushed through a window. I quickly yanked out my new pistol and began shooting, aiming for walker heads. My aim was a little off, though, and I had dropped less than half a dozen walkers before I ran out of bullets.

"So much for that," I muttered, tossing it aside. I drew my knife and began stabbing walkers, battling my way through the storm and miraculously not being bit. Beginning to lose hope, I stared desperately at the engaging walkers.

And then I had an idea.

I ducked into a supply closet and slammed the door behind me, instantly pressing my back against it. It took all of my strength to keep it closed as I looked around for something to block it. My eyes landed on a large plastic crate filled with old books and I grabbed it, dragging it over to cover the door. Once the crate was in place, I began searching through the shelves, hoping and praying that what I was looking for would be there.

"Yes!"

There it was - a roll of silver duct tape. Reaching for it, I began wrapping the reflective tape up and down the sleeves of my track jacket, covering them completely. Then I started on my legs. I had seen this done before on other survivors, and it worked about eighty percent of the time. If a walker got ahold of one of my arms or legs and tried to bite me, the duct tape would deflect it. My limbs would be relatively safe, and I could focus on protecting my torso, neck, and head. Once I finished covering my arms and legs, I considered wrapping the remaining duct tape around my torso, but I was running out of time. I tossed the duct tape into my bag and slung it over my back, picking up my knife.

Then I opened the door and charged.

Walkers were everywhere, but I somehow managed to get through them. One walker latched itself onto my forearm and gnawed on it, and I would've been toast if it weren't for the layers of duct tape. Another walker that was on the ground grabbed onto my calf, and I shook it off and stomped on its head. Within minutes I was at the window.

Jumping up on the windowsill, I stumbled into the wooden frame. A shard of glass still stuck in the wood pierced my cheek and sent blood dripping down the side of my face. I let out a small cry of pain and jumped out the window, landing on my feet in the grass. My ankle crumpled beneath me, but I stayed upright. Moving as fast as I could, I made my way to the road. As I limped out onto the asphalt, I noticed a white car parked on the edge. Curious, I began to move closer. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something coming towards me, its movements too clean and easy to be a walker.

I turned around and threw my knife. It imbedded itself in the shoulder of a man, who sank to the ground and dropped the thick canvas sack he'd been holding. My eyes widened and I took a step back, understanding what the man had been about to do.

"Hey! Girl!"

The car's door opened and a second man got out, running towards me. He looked angry, but I didn't stick around to find out how badly I had hurt his friend. I turned and fled, leaving my knife behind.

A/N: This was fun to write, I remember, because of the irony of the fact that she found the church where Daryl had just been, assumably only days before. At the time that I wrote this, season five hadn't aired yet, which means that I didn't know anything about Beth being taken to the hospital, so I used my creative liberty to make up a new scenario for the church and the car. You'll see that next chapter.


	14. Fourteen

Fourteen

Using the dark of night as cover, I kept moving. I stayed in the trees on the edge of the road, trying to remain hidden in case the car were to come barreling down towards me. But it didn't, and I limped until dawn. Then I climbed a tree and pressed my back against the trunk, my bag in my lap. All I had in my bag were my hatchet, a few more cans of food, and Lizzie's knife. I didn't even have my flashlight anymore, because I had left it at the house where Mika was killed.

I groaned and leaned my head back against the tree, closing my eyes. Mika. I blamed myself for her death. If only I could've ran faster. I would've gotten to her in time and killed Lizzie, and then Mika would be alive and Lizzie would be dead and I would still be with Michonne and the others and we would be on our way to Terminus.

Mika reminded me of a slightly older version of Lynn, Tom and Ellen's little girl who had died as I buried her dad. Really, Mika looked so much like Lynn that I would've mistaken them for sisters. Oh, if only. If only Mika had had sweet, gentle Lynn for a sister instead of psychotic, dark minded Lizzie. Then maybe they'd both be alive and I wouldn't have lost both of the young blonde girls I had grown fond of.

I winced as a tear slipped out of my eye and ran down my face into the cut the glass shard from the window had made. The saltiness stung the open wound. I slid off my now duct tape covered track jacket and put it in my lap before pulling my white tee shirt off over my head. It was the only cloth I had, and I needed to stop the bleeding. Bundling it up into a ball, I pressed the shirt against my cheek and watched out of the corner of my eye as the dirty white cloth was stained dark red. I held the shirt there for a few minutes before taking it away, to see if the cut was still bleeding. It wasn't, so I rubbed the blood out of my shirt as much as I could, which really only succeeded in smearing it around, slipped it on over my head, and pulled on my track jacket, zipping it up.

Suddenly a flashlight beam cut through the early dawn light. I could make out three shapes walking behind it. One of them as leaning heavily on another, while the third carried the flashlight.

"Come on out, little girl." The one with the flashlight was calling. "Come on out, and no one gets hurt."

My eyes widened and I pressed myself up against the tree, hoping and praying that the leaves would keep me hidden. It was the two men from the church, and a third man had joined them.

The man that I had thrown my knife at groaned. "Aw, come on, Owen. We ain't gonna find 'er. She be long gone by now."

"Shut up," the man with the flashlight, Owen, hissed. "We'll find her."

"We won't," the injured man insisted.

Owen froze. He turned around to face the injured man, his jaw hardening. "We will." He raised a knife - my knife - and slammed it blade first into the injured man's skull. The man holding onto him let go, and the body fell to the ground. Owen rounded on his shocked looking companion. "You have a problem with this?" The shocked man shook his head quickly. "Good."

I sat, huddled on my branch, as Owen and his terrified companion made their way across the trail and disappeared among the trees.

A trap.

The words popped into my head as I was walking down the side of the road. Of course I had already realized that, but it just hadn't really clicked that that was what it was. A trap. I had walked right into a trap. Owen and his cronies had cleared that church, and packed it full of food to lure in people. Then they somehow sent walkers in (or maybe that was a coincidence) and drove by the church to catch whoever was in there. They threw them in their car and drove off to who knows where, never to be seen again.

I shuddered. I had nearly been caught by them! Whoever this Owen guy was, I didn't want to find out. It wasn't my problem, and I needed to find Daryl. Daryl was my top priority.

Terminus was close. I could feel it. I could read it, too, and it was on every sign at every crossroad for miles. If I kept moving, I would be there by noon. My cheek stung and my ankle screamed and I just wanted to lie down and cry and sleep, but I forced myself to stay on my feet. Hopefully there would be doctors food, and a warm bed waiting for me at Terminus. And Daryl. Good ol' uncle Daryl.

The sun was just nearing the top of the sky when I saw the fences. After the fences I saw the building itself. A large, square brick building that probably used to be a factory, train cars on train track surrounding it inside the fences. The word, Terminus, was written in black largely and neatly across the upper windows, so as to be seen from a good distance away.

Smiling to myself, I made my way to the gates. There was a chain loosely wrapped around them, but I unwound it and easily pushed through. I stepped around chairs and potted plants to get to the inner gate, and saw a sign tacked to it.

"Lower your weapons and you will be met." I murmured aloud. "You have arrived at Terminus."

My right hand that was clutching Lizzie's knife lowered to my belt loop. I tucked away the blade without hesitation. I had to follow the Terminus rules if I wanted to be accepted. With my weapons sheathed, I moved onwards, coming around the corner of a brick wall.

Then I saw people. There were people eating at tables, talking together, laughing, and a few were even reading. There were no kids, but I didn't think much of it. They must've all been inside the building.

The first to notice me was a thick woman cooking at a grill. She looked kind, her long brown hair loosely braided over her shoulder. She smiled. "You look like you've been on the road for a while."

I nodded. "I have."

The lady stepped out from behind her grill. "I'm Mary. We'll get you a plate of food and a bed to sleep in. Welcome to Terminus."

I smiled. "I'm Holly. Thank you, Mary. I'll do what I can to contribute while I'm here."

"While you're here?" Mary flipped some of the meat on the grill. "Holly, dear, you shouldn't be leaving. Terminus is meant to be a safe haven, your place for survival."

"I know." I told her politely. "I'm just looking for someone… and if he's not here, then I'll have to keep movin'."

"Who're you looking for, sweetie?" Mary asked as she scraped some meat onto a paper plate.

"His name's Daryl Dixon." My eyes were on the food. "He's my uncle."

"Daryl Dixon?" Mary thought for a minute. "Is he a lankier fellow, that carries a crossbow?"

"I dunno." I muttered. "I haven't seen him in a while."

"Well, if the Daryl Dixon you're looking for is the Daryl Dixon I've met, then he's here."

"Really?" My spirits soared - I wrenched my eyes away from the food to look at Mary. "Daryl's here?"

A/N: That was a weird ending, I know, but oh well. There's two more chapters left, and then the story will be over. As for a sequel, who knows?


	15. Fifteen

Fifteen

Mary nodded. "Oh, yes. He arrived just a couple of days ago."

"Can I see him?" I begged. "Where is he?"

Mary smiled at me, not saying anything. Suddenly I heard a click behind me, and I turned around to see a gun aimed at my head. My eyes widened.

"My name's Gareth," the man behind the gun said. "You are?"

I swallowed. "Holly."

Mary spoke up, her voice suddenly cold. "A, Gareth. She's looking for the Archer."

Gareth stared at me through narrowed eyes. "Open your bag, and empty it. Now."

I opened my mouth to object, but Gareth's finger was lingering dangerously close to the trigger. I growled and shrugged off my bag, pulling it open. Flipping it upside down, I kept my gaze locked with Gareth's as three cold cans of food and my hatchet fell out onto the ground. By then every person in the courtyard had a gun trained on me, and I threw my empty bag down angrily.

Gareth nodded his head, and a man came forward and pulled my arms out, frisking me. He found Lizzies knife and dropped it to join my other belongings on the concrete. He stepped back, leaving me weaponless with seventeen guns aimed at my head. Gareth eyes my clothes. "What are you wearing?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Clothes."

Gareth's finger settled down to rest on the trigger. "I said, what are you wearing?"

I kept my arms up in surrender so he wouldn't shoot me. "Duct tape. It keeps the walkers from bein' able to bite me."

"And it works?"

I nodded.

Gareth made a small noise of interest. Then he sighed. "Well, come on, then, Holly. I'll take you to the Archer. You're going to walk in front of me and not say a word, or I'll shoot you. Okay?"

I didn't say anything, just let myself be pushed along by the barrel of the gun in my back. We walked in silence for a few minutes, until we reached an old red train car. The letter A was painted in white on the side of it. Gareth pushed me towards it. "Open the door, go in, and shut the door behind you. Or else."

The whole 'or else' thing sounded totally cliche to me, but I ascended the steps to the train car. Taking a deep breath and praying that the train car wasn't full of walkers, I opened the door and stepped inside, shutting it behind me and instantly pressing my back against it. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, but when they did I saw a few figures in the back of the train car.

"Hello?" My voice sounded strange, and oddly echoey.

The figures began moving towards me, and I could make out their features. The one closest to me was a guy, an Asian guy with slick black hair. I instantly realized who he might be.

"Glenn?"

The Asian guy looked in confusion at his companions, then back at me. "Yeah." He said finally. "How did you know that?"

I shuffled my feet. "Michonne told me there was an Asian guy in her group."

"Michonne?" One of the other people, a man with curly black hair, leaned towards me. "You know Michonne?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "I met her in the woods 'bout a week and a half ago. She told me all about you guys."

"Is she alive?" The guy with the curls asked.

"She was the last time I saw her, which was a few days ago. I came here looking for someone who's in her group. Gareth said he was here."

"Who're you looking for?"

"His name's Daryl Dixon. I'm his niece, Holly."

The curly haired man, Glenn, and the three others, two women and a boy, turned to look at the sixth and final person. It was a man, and he looked very worn out. His shaggy brown hair didn't cover the large bruise over his eye. The man looked at me for a moment, his lips parted. Then he spoke.

"I don't got no niece."

A/N: There's only one chapter left, so as you can see Holly doesn't really get to spend much time with Daryl before the story's over. I've considered a sequel, though, so you can see where Holly's story goes next...


	16. Sixteen

Sixteen

My eyes widened. _This_ was Daryl? He was nothing like what I remembered. Well, I hadn't seen him since I was six, but still. I stepped towards him. "Daryl?"

He stepped back. "I told you, I don't got no niece."

"Yes, you do," I insisted. "It's me. My name is Holly Alexis Dixon, I'm thirteen years old. My dad was Merle and my mom was Lauren. I grew up livin' with Lauren's parents, but they're dead now and so are my mom and dad. You're the only family I got left."

"Merle said you were dead." Daryl said, expressionlessly. "Said he went back for y'all, but all he found were a pile of dead bodies."

I was taken aback. Why would my dad say that? Had he really gone back to look for me, or was he lying? "Well, he was wrong." I said firmly. "Here I am, I'm alive, and I went through a whole lotta crap tryin' to get to you. You believe me, or not?"

Daryl's companions kept their eyes on him. He stared at me, his gaze full of some emotion I couldn't quite catch. Skepticism, maybe? Disbelief? Whatever it was, I didn't like the look of it. I sighed heavily and turned to face the others. "Okay, time for some quick introductions, and then we gotta work on an escape plan. I don't plan on becoming dinner for these cannibals."

"You think they're cannibals too, then?" One of the two women, a girl with tan skin and short dark hair, asked.

"Yeah," I nodded. "I mean, did you see the"-

"Hold on." The ragged curly haired man cut me off. "Who _are_ you? How do you know who we are?"

I blew a piece of hair out of my eyes. "I told you that already. I'm Holly Dixon, and Michonne told me bout you guys. Now are you going to tell me your names or not?"

The curly haired man looked at me for a few more seconds. "I'm Rick. This is Carl." He waved his hand toward the boy, a year or so older than me, who was wearing a sheriff's hat that no longer had a badge on it. Carl nodded to me, his hands in his hoodie pockets.

The girl with the short dark hair raised her hand and waved. "Tara."

The last girl was holding onto Glenn's arm. "I'm Maggie."

Rick ran a hands through his slick curls. "Now, Holly, I want you to tell me everything. Where did you meet Michonne? Who was she with?"

"She wasn't with anyone." I crossed my arms over my chest. "I met her in the woods. I was alone, too, and she let me stick around. I told her about my lost group, and she told me about hers."

Maggie's head pitched forward the slightest bit. "Do you think they're here? Does Terminus have your group?"

"No." I scuffed my heel against the floor of the train car. "They're dead."

Maggie looked apologetic. "Oh, I'm sorry"-

"Don't be." I cut her off. I looked back at Rick. "We were in a tree, Michonne and I, and got surrounded by walkers. Michonne distracted them all, and I jumped down and ran to find help. I ran into some more for your group, Tyreese and Sasha."

"Tyreese and Sasha are alive?" Glenn asked, hopefully.

"I just said that, didn't I?" I rolled my eyes. "We went back and killed the walkers. Michonne's fine too."

"Is anyone else from the prison alive?' Carl suddenly asked. Rick glanced at him like he knew what his son was thinking.

"We found Carol at an old pecan grove. She had Lizzie and Mika with her." My eyes widened. "And Judith! Oh my god, I forgot. Rick, your daughter is alive!"

Rick and Carl both looked shocked. Then Carl smiled. "Judith… Judith is alive?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Sorry, if I'd remembered then I would've told you as soon as I got here. Judith's healthy and alive, though, and she's with Carol."

Rick nodded, the ghost of a smile lingering over his lips. Carl was full on grinning, shaking his head like he couldn't believe it. "Thank you. Thank you, Holly."

"Yeah. Of course." I sighed. "Mika's not so lucky."

"Is she dead?" Carl asked, and I realized that they had probably been friends.

I nodded slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, she's dead."

"Did a walker get her?"

"No." My gaze locked with Carl's. "Lizzie murdered her."

Rick looked shocked. "Lizzie killed Mika?"

"Stabbed her in the stomach." I said coldly. "Lizzie killed Mika, I tried to kill Lizzie, I tried to kill Eugene, and Abraham tried to kill me."

"Who're Eugene and Abraham?" Glenn asked. He glanced at Tara questioningly, but she shook her head.

"Some idiots we met on the road. The two of them and Rosita were on their way to D.C."

"Why D.C.?" Rick leaned in.

"Eugene says he knows how the apocalypse started. He's tryin' to get the information to the government. Not that there'll be any government left." That last part I mumbled to myself.

Tara glanced at me warily. "Why did you try to kill Eugene? And why did Abraham try to kill you?"

"I tried to kill Eugene because he stood by and _watched_ Lizzie kill Mika. Abraham tried to kill me because I tried to kill Eugene."

Glenn blinked at me. "A lot of killing goes on around you, doesn't it?" When I nodded, he nodded somewhat uncomfortably and looked away. "You know, she's a lot like you, Daryl. Are you sure she's not your niece?"

I had felt Daryl's eyes on me the whole time I had been talking, although he hadn't said a word and I was avoiding looking at him. I was stubborn, I admit it, but _he_ was going to admit that I was his niece. When Glenn said that, however, I looked up. Daryl was looking at me, his eyes narrowed and his mouth unsmiling. As he saw me looking at him, though, his expression softened. After what felt like an eternity he sighed and said, "Alright. Welcome back to the family, little Dixon."

I grinned. "Happy to be here."

Sure, we still had a whole crap load of things we were gonna have to deal with, getting out of Terminus and reuniting with the rest of our group - because of course I had to call it _our_ group now - but I knew that we would work it all out.

Because now there was Daryl. Finally, Daryl.

A/N: The end! Thanks for reading, I know it's just a short little fic with not a whole lot of substance and an ending that really leaves a lot to be desired… but it was fun to write five years ago and I was proud of actually finishing a story for once. I did start working on a sequel, but I never got very far… maybe someday I might come back to it and continue writing, but for now, this is where Holly's story ends. Hope you enjoyed it at least somewhat!


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